Irvine
by LibraryGirl
Summary: Irvy-goodness! One-shot based on Irvine; he looks back on his relationship with Selphie. Dedicated to Quycksylver.


This is just a little diddy I wrote up during Spanish one day. Don't worry; I was already finished with my work! ^_^ Not much to say. It's 100% about Irvine. Maybe 0.0005 Selphie. *shrug* So if you're an Irvine fan, I hope ya like it. 

This story is dedicated to Quycksylver (http://fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=193381) She is so amazingly cool. I suggest ya go read her stories!! ^_^

**.Irvine.**

            Long chestnut-colored hair danced with the wind, briefly tickling the sharpshooter's nose. He smiled and lazily brushed it away. He liked the feel of it on his skin, so he did not yet consider it an annoyance. 'Yet' being the keyword.

            His eyes scanned the beach, looking for some sort of movement.

            Nothing.

            Of course there would be nothing.

            He was at the beach in the middle of the night during the coldest month of the year.

            He was pretty cold, himself, but his loyal duster was lined with the softest material, and it kept him warm, safe from the biting cold.

            Irvine was always at ease at the beach. He figured it was because that's where he had grown up, at the orphanage.

            A bittersweet memory suddenly flashed into his mind, like a long forgotten coin being found in a deep pocket.

*

            _Two green eyes, filled with pain, looked up at him, moist with tears that threatened to fall. Irvine had accidentally knocked Selphie down in his rush to get the first of Matron's new batch of cookies._

_            He looked down at her. Even at the young age of six, he knew guilt, and that was all he felt. Irvine leaned down and peered into his friend's wide eyes. "I'm sowy Selph. Are ya otay?" His young voice was filled with concern._

_            Selphie's bottom lip trembled, yet as young as she was, she refused to cry. "I'm otay, Irvy."_

_            He looked at her doubtfully. "Ya need help getting up?"_

_            A small smile crossed the young girl's features. "Uh-huh."_

_            The smile was returned, and a hand that would eventually try to assassinate their beloved Matron reached out and helped Selphie stand. "You're not hurt, are ya?"_

_            She scrunched her nose and looked down at her skinned knee. A tiny drop of blood made its way from the wounded skin, a bit of nothingness compared to the battle wounds she would receive later in life. "No. I'm otay."_

_            The young boy's smile widened. "That's good."_

*

            Irvine presently blinked his eyes and was surprised to feel a single tear escape from its confines, running down his cheek, only to die at the corner of his lips.

            Selphie had always been his best friend at the orphanage. She always seemed to understand him, and sometimes she'd braid his hair as she rambled on about how she Quisty and Squall were going to get married.

            He had always told her that she was crazy because Squall was going to be a cold, mean man and live by himself for the rest of his life, probably in a cave with a tonberry.

            She'd giggle insanely at that and continue braiding his hair.

            After they had defeated Ultimecia, Irvine found that he was beginning to have more and more flashbacks about the past, when he and Selphie could just laugh about everything and not have a care in the world.

            He missed those times, when they didn't have to worry about dating or being boyfriend and girlfriend.

            Now, it was different.

            Irvine had fallen for his best friend, the spunky girl he considered a sister.

            He knew it was a mistake, considering Selphie didn't want a relationship just yet.

            "I have my whole life ahead of me, Irvy, and it's too soon to start settling down," she had told him.

            Well, he didn't want to settle down either. He was Irvine Kinneas for Hyne's sake! He liked to flirt and get around (not in a derogatory way, mind you!). All he wanted from Selphie was a yes or no answer.

            "Can we be together…someday?" he recalled himself asking.

            The answer he had received had shocked him, "I don't think that would be best, Irvine."

            That's all there had been to that conversation. After she had said that, she had given him a sad look before slowly turning around and walking away.

            He desperately tried to convince himself that she was just playing hard to get. 

            He knew, however, that that wasn't the case. Selphie and him were only friends, and that's all they were going to be.

            Irvine's hair began to tickle his nose again, bringing him from his depressive relapse.

            He briefly wondered what he could do.

            Go back to Galbadia?

            Hell no.

            What was at Galbadia?

            Nothing.

            Not Selphie.

            He sighed to himself and tiredly kicked at the sand.

            Irvine Kinneas was not whipped.

            Honestly, he wasn't. Just take a look at his little black book of phone numbers. He had plenty of girls that were ready and waiting.

            Be he didn't want those girls. 

            He wanted Selphie.

            But did Selphie want him?  
            That was a question he didn't have the answer to. 

            He wasn't even sure if he wanted the answer.

            Irvine Kinneas had never had his heart broken, and he was planning on keeping it that way.

            So what if Selphie didn't want him? That was just fine with him. He wouldn't dwell on it. No, he'd just let it go. Let it be. There was someone out there for him. 

            Irvine smiled broadly. He felt like laughing at himself. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why he was so intent on finding that someone now. His someone was somewhere, but he wasn't ready to meet that someone just yet. He agreed with Selphie. He had his whole life ahead of him. Why waste it looking for someone he didn't even know? 

            "Good point, Kinneas," he told himself, a well-deserved grin playing at his lips. He briefly turned his back to the ocean and looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful night, with sparkling stars and a bright full moon.

            He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the salty yet comforting air.

            The wind continued to play with his hair, and he still didn't mind, but he could only take so much tickling. Slender fingers left the coziness of a warm pocket and brushed the hair away.

            Irvine felt as if a large burden had been raised from his shoulders. It felt good to know that he didn't have to worry about it anymore. He no longer cared that Selphie didn't want him. To Hell with it.

            Right now, he was free as a bird.

            And that's all that mattered.


End file.
